HOW DID I MISS THIS???

More importantly, how did Father Anonymous miss this?

A few years ago I lived within range of a Catholic Radio Station and I listened to it all the time.  It was the fundi Catholics but was just much more fascinating than your typical Christian radio.  Some of the stuff they taught was right out of the stuff Luther railed against and I thought had been explained away in all of our ecumenical agreements.  

One of the preachers I loved to listen to was Father John Corapi.  Just for his voice alone.  Deep and gravely.  He was funny and a good speaker.  I didn't agree with much of what he said but sometimes he'd talk about basic faith stuff, like the need to lean on God that we all can agree on.  He was like the EWTN's pitch hitter.  The great defender of Mary, the Pope and the Catholic Church.  Not afraid to call a sin and sin and tell us all how bad this liberal, morally lax culture was. 

And apparently last year he was found guilty of sexual immorality and drug abuse.  And then he up and quit the church.  I just read about this yesterday.  I know this is an old story in more ways than one, but I was shocked.

I'm not above entertaining a little schedenfruede, but this was really disillusioning for me.  I can't imagine how this hit the people who agreed with him and admired and looked up to him.  I have to wonder... is EVERYONE screwing around?  Not to over share but I must assure you, I'm not.  I don't even have time.  How did he find the time?

And why is the Vatican going after the poor nuns when this seems to be a much bigger problem for them?  Maybe they should be doing a better job of watching over the boy stars.  

Oh and mister anonymous atheist  whatever you are calling yourself right now who always likes to post some smug anti Christian stuff on the comments that I never approve anymore.  Just don't bother.

A Bad Week for my Opinion of Humanity

First it was Herman Cain comparing having past sexual harassment charges made public to being lynched.  Really Mr. Cain?  Really?

Then the allegations of a serial pedophile having access  and free reign to rape and assault troubled children.  And the reaction to it at the time can't even be called a cover up as much as a "oh well, just don't use our locker room".  Then when the board of Penn State, more as damage control than anything else fires the man who knew about it but only did the bare minimum to cover his own ass -- students rally around him in a disgraceful and totally insensitive to the victims display.  Between this and Herman Cain's backlash at his accusers (there will be more but they are all liars too).  No wonder victims choose to just keep their mouths shut and deal with their pain in silence.  Oh yea and if you don't think the fact that many of the boys abused were African American doesn't play into this and the unwillingness of anybody to stand up - then you are very naive.  Just think about that and then tell me about "lynching".

 And I wish they would stop calling it a damned "sex scandal"  This is not some sordid tabloid story.  This is a rape and sexual assault case.

And then there is the story of body parts of soldiers killed in action being treated cavalierly.

Oh yea and the Black Rhino has been declared extinct.   Just makes me want Jesus to come back.  Today.

There is something SERIOUSLY WRONG with our Society

That people think this is okay.    Not that this is anything new.  I remember 16 years ago having to search out several dance studios for my daughter before finding one that would NOT teach  my 4 year old to bump & grind.  But I found one.  So parents have no excuse.  And for parents on ABC Good Morning America to defend this sexualizing of their daughters by saying it's all in our heads....I am just speechless.

Repentance a Prerequisite for Forgiveness?

I thank you dear God, that I have learned not to begin faith by my own efforts, nor attempt to destroy my sin with my own repentance.
Martin Luther, "Luther's Prayers" Edited by Herbert Brokering.

This is an issue that has been bugging me for quite some time.

I've been hearing this argument that we earn God's forgiveness through our repentance for quite a while but it has become even more prevalent with the recent sexuality debate. And it was expressed in a letter to the editor in the most recent Lutheran magazine.
 
"Yes we are all sinners….but but but….you have to REPENT and THEN God will forgive you." Or even worse, "Yes we are all sinners, but WE are REPENTANT sinners" Yes indeedy there are now two categories of sinners – Plain old bad sinners who if they aren't going to hell, they at least aren't very good Christians… and "repentant" sinners who are better because, well, at least we're TRYING to be better.

If this isn't semi-pelagianism rearing it's ugly head I don't know what is. 

Remember Pelagius never denied that we were saved by God's grace. He just argued very sensibly that we should at least COOPERATE with God's grace and you, know help it along a little. 

Because certainly God should not be expected to save us all by HIMSELF without even a little bit of participation on our part. We have to at least REPENT.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for repentance. 

Yes indeed that was Jesus' Gospel – "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" But what exactly did he mean? 

The Greek meaning of repentance is to literally turn around, change directions. In Hebrew it means to "go back" – to return to God. It doesn't have anything to do with being sorry for you sins. I still remember this being pointed out to me in my first bible class in seminary in Acts 2:37-28. 

 After hearing Peter speak, his hearers were "cut to the heart" and asked what they should do. He tells them to "Repent and be baptized" I take it that being "cut to the heart" meant they were sorry and yet Peter STILL tells them to repent and be baptized.

 What should we do? Be baptized!

Whose act is baptism? Not ours, God. What should we do? Turn to God! That's very nice that you are sorry for your sins, but that ain't gonna save you. Put your life in God's hands. 

Depend upon God to save you, not your own damned repentance.

But but but, we HAVE to confess our sins first. Because God is just sitting around with his hands tied, waiting for us to confess before he can save us. Confession saves us. Really? Salvation depends upon me confessing? 

 So I actually am responsible for my own salvation? Well, crap, if that's the case I am damned. And so are you.

In the 6^th Chapter of Isaiah Isaiah is brought before God. It is in the presence of God that he confesses

Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!'

I am an unclean man and yet I have seen the Lord of Hosts. 

 I think having confession before worship has given us a warped sense of the purpose of confession. It's given us the impression that confession is something WE do to make ourselves worthy to be in God's presence. 

 And yet it is only in the presence of God that we are able to confess. We can confess till the cows come home, and we will still find that we are still an unclean people who have in spite of that been welcomed into the presence of God. Not because we've confessed. But because God wants to bring us into his presence.


Luke 5:8 is always paired with the Isaiah text in the lectionary, Jesus directs Simon Peter to put out his nets and after seeing the miraculous catch of fish-- THEN Peter falls down before Jesus and says 'Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!' Confession is a RESPONSE to grace; it is not a perquisite to grace.

Continue reading Luke 5:17-26 – the healing of the paralytic – Jesus sees the faith of the man's friends…not a word about the man's faith, confession or repentance and says "Your sins are forgiven." 

I have argued this with the "no forgiveness without repentance" crowd and they simply say "well it's implied".  It is NOT implied! They have written it into the script because they cannot conceive of a God who forgives without any effort on our part. And they call ME a revisionist.

The prodigal son? You think HE repented? 

He's coming home rehearsing a speech that will get him some food. But before his father even has a chance to hear the rehearsed speech, he's hiked up his robe and is running in the most undignified manner to welcome home his sorry excuse for a son.
 

If you think your salvation depends upon your repentance, you are just plain screwed. 

Thank God for all us you are wrong. Thank God we have an undignified God, who doesn't wait to hear our silly rehearsed speech, crafted to get us out of trouble, thank God he's already hitched up his robe and met us more than half way to forgive us, his sorry excuses for children.
 
And if after all that God has done for us, if we can make some sorry attempt at repentance in response to that unexpected, undeserved, and unimaginable grace, even that is not for God's sake, but for our sake, as we work together with other sorry excuses for Christian brothers and sisters to work together for the Kingdom of God.

Playing Sorority Life - A Little Too Much Like Real Life

So I discovered this very addictive game on Facebook called Sorority Life. It started with just dressing up this virtual paper doll. I like dress-up. Then you organize little virtual events that gave you virtual money and virtual "glam" and you get points and move up a level. Then I discovered you could virtually "attack" other houses and steal their money. And there was strategy with figuring which glam to buy that had points for attacking and points for defense. And that was fun and challenging. But you needed more "sisters" for that - which meant more facebook friends. So I got more sisters. And pretty soon my virtual crops on facebook farmland were dying because all I wanted play on facebook was Sorority Life.

Ah but there was ANOTHER feature of the game. You could virtually "slap" someone. But a number of people playing this game had decided that it was socially unacceptable to push the slap the button. Whole houses had "no slapping" rules and would kick anybody out of their virtual "house" if they were caught slapping. These people take this seriously enough that they keep screen shots of virtual slaps.

But then it wasn't enough not to slap. You couldn't house or be friends with anyone who slapped. You couldn't belong to a house that was neutral about slapping. And there were witch hunts and if you were found to be the sister of a sister who was sisters with a "slapper" you were booted from houses. It was crazy.

And my rebellious streak set in and I started housing slappers. And got kicked out of houses for it. Then I started watching all the fun my slapper sisters were having so one day I did it. I pushed the slapper button. And watched grown women (there are actually a lot of men play too but I don't think they are as suseptable to the anti-slapper mania as women) go absolutely nutso on me, writing foul and disgusting insults on my board, as well as lame "Yea well you are an ugly old lady"

I won't lie. I got some satisfaction out of being able to do what you can't do in real life. Slap idiots and self-righteous uptight old biddies.

Well it was bound to happen. I wasn't as careful with my privacy settings on facebook as I should have been. And one day I got outed as I read on my board "Is this the way a PASTOR should behave---slapping people?" Which is pretty hysterical as no one seemed to have a problem with the main part of the game which is STEALING MONEY.

At first I was bummed that I couldn't be anonymous in the game anymore. But I didn't participate in the foul mouthed insults - I thought I kept my smack talk clean (except for the character I created just to slap people called "SMACKuratsass") and rather on the witty side and I never got personal like these people did. I mean who goes and looks people up and post personal information about you over a GAME? Apparently a lot of people. Lot of nuts on the internet. I've been online long enough to know that.

And then I started thinking. People decide slapping is wrong because they don't do it. And so everybody else has to do things their way and not only can slappers not be in your house - nobody else can have slappers in their house. Hmmm. Not only are WE not going to have a gay pastor. No other congregation in the ELCA can have a gay pastor.

Anti slappers would gang up on and drive to drive slappers out of the game. CORE trying to get its members to gang up on pastors who don't agree with them and drive them out of the church.

Anti-slappers acting all morally superior because they don't slap yet they engage in vile and rude and insulting behavior (and sometimes do actually slap). People who focus in on homosexuality as the only sin in the world and yet engage in vile and hurtful behavior (some of whom are in the closet themselves)

OMG SORORITY LIFE IS JUST LIKE THE CHURCH I WAS TRYING TO ESCAPE!

And yet, just as in the church there are good people who "get" it. I met some really cool sisters who slapped or didn't mind befriending slappers and that made it all worthwhile.

Purity. Trying to draw that line between them and us. This side is God's good clean side and I'm on it and THEY are not. And yet what did Jesus do? Constantly crossed over boundaries. Constantly held up the "other", the unclean, the sinner, the outcast, as the one who will be in the Kingdom of heaven before all these morally superior smug anti-slappers.

One crazy person who found out I was a pastor posted all over my board "WWJD" You know what I think Jesus would do? He'd call all those self-righteous biddies a brood of vipers and go have a party with the slappers.

Self-Righteous Judging - It's Everywhere

No I'm not talking about the folks who pick on gays. I'm thinking a little closer to home. I was reading Keene's Kwikies (a great blog btw) recent post Humility. He's laid up in the hospital with a heart problem and he's one of those folks that even the most non-judgmental, loving, compassionate, gospel preaching liberals feel free to judge and berate to their face - he's a SMOKER. He's not a young guy. Probably been smoking for a long time. He's not stupid. He knows he's a sinner. And everybody's scolding and lecturing him in his hospital bed. Really. If this episode (and no doubt others) hasn't made him quit, do people really think self-righteous pontificating will? Is there no grace for the smoker?

See I don't think it's about helping him at all. I think we all want to feel superior to SOMEBODY. Liberals are not allowed to be racist or prejudiced, but SMOKERS.... that's different. They deserve it. I'm better and smarter and healthier than a smoker. Smokers deserve our public derision and judgment.

My sister experiences something similar as a skin cancer patient. She lives in Southern California, often has to take a bus, and it's very difficult for her to stay out of the sun. She can't always (nor can she always afford to, as she lives on Social Security) constantly be slathering on sunscreen. So everytime she ends up back at the clinic with another spot, she gets scolded and reprimanded and lectured about sunscreen. Really? She has SKIN CANCER! Do these people think she never heard of sunscreen? They don't care about her. They just want to feel superior.

So who is the sinner to whom you feel superior?

Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. Romans 2:1